Sains Ma1aysiana 25(4) 1996: 69-84                                                                        Sains Bumi/

                                                                                                                                Earth Sciences

Preliminary Survey on Potential Toxic Heavy Metal Content and Distribution in Soils of Ranau District, Sabah, Malaysia

Sahibin Abdul Rahim

Jabatan Sains Bumi

Fakulti Sains & Sumber Alam

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600 UKM Bangi Selangor D.E.

ABSTRACT

A preliminary study on the concentration and distribution of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) was carried out for the whole of Ranau District. Topsoil samples (0-15 cm depth) were collected randomly in accordance with the distribution of soil associations in the area. It was found that only three of the heavy metals (Ni, Cr, and Cu) were present above the threshold of toxicity level, whilst the others were below this level. These higher levels of heavy metal concentration were most likely associated with the mining activities in the headwater of the study area and also to the occurrence of serpentinite parent material. The area affected is confined only to the northern part of the study area.

ABSTRAK

Kajian awal bagi menentukan taburan dan kepekatan logam-logam berat (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb dan Zn) telah dijalankan bagi seluruh daerah Ranau. Sample tanah atas (kedalaman 0-15 cm) telah dikutip secara rawak bergantung kepada taburan asosiasi tanah di kawasan tersebut. Didapati bahawa hanya tiga daripada logam berat ini (Ni, Cr dan Cu) melebihi had keracunan, sementara yang lain berada di bawah paras keracunan. Kepekatan logam berat yang tinggi di dalam sampel kajian' dapat dikaitkan dengan aktiviti pelombongan tembaga di kawasan punca air dan juga dengan batuan serpentinit yang menjadi bahan induk tanah. Kawasan yang terlibat terhad di bahagian utara kawasan kajian sahaja.

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